Adding eyes to your flowwrapperVision systems add a layer of protection to packaging.

BakingBusiness.com, Oct. 1, 2013

by Shane Whitaker

What happens if the date coder on your horizontal wrapper runs out of ink and doesn’t give a warning? You risk making 10, 20 or perhaps 50 cases of product without those necessary codes. “Now, you’ve got to go back through and open all those cases to know when it quit printing,” said Dennis Gunnell, vice-president of sales and marketing, Formost Fuji Corp. “Then you have to rerun all those products.”

How could this be avoided? A vision system can verify whether date codes are being printed, confirm film registrations and see end-roll splices so those can be rejected. Formost Fuji offers this option on its Alpha VII flowwrapper.

Typically, red tape marks a splice. “In today’s world, we are trying automate and have operators doing more than one thing at a time, so they may not be standing at the wrapper when that red tape goes through,” Mr. Gunnell said. “The vision system automatically rejects that stretch of film.” It also can detect the film’s edges to keep roll stock aligned properly. “It helps reduce waste,” he noted.